All About Stars
by SweetCarnation
Summary: At the end of Sonic Adventure 2, the clock is ticking. Why is it Shadow remembered his promise to Maria thanks to Amy? "She smiled at him, and Shadow concluded that maybe, just maybe, they could actually get along, no matter how his soul was used to loneliness and hers to joy."
1. Chapter 1

All About Stars

"Oooh! I hate it when they leave me behind!"

It was true. They ignored her. Again. For the _third_ time already. It was tiring, to always try to help and end up alone and helpless. It wasn't the best feeling in the world, especially when those friends she wanted to help where racing to save the Earth.

Right.

As if it needed saving from that blasted Eclipse Canon. It wasn't like Eggman would blow up the gigantic planet or else, he wouldn't have a secure place to build his empire and there would be no people alive to fear him and his ceaseless gloating. Besides, _what_ Eggman Empire? The last times the old scientist built up a so-called 'empire', it ended up as a huge amusement park with only a single task: defeat that person (read Sonic here).

But she was getting away from the subject.

With a tired sigh, Amy walked along a dark grey corridor. To save the world, what a huge pressure! They were only teens, how could they do? What could they do? What could a 8 year-old genius, a cocky teen, and a blockhead could do to prevent the world from being annihilated? 'Think positive Amy, positive! No need for dark thoughts,' she repeated over and over in her mind.

After walking for a good while, the young girl arrived at the entrance of a big circular room, and noted with no astonishment, that the walls _were_ a dull shade of gray, like almost every other surface in the ARK. She scanned the empty chamber and recognized it as the place she was in about 10 minutes ago, listening to deceased Professor Gerald Robotnik's will...

* * *

Fifty years ago, the old man was taking care of his ill granddaughter, Maria, like any caring grandparent would. Only, instead of weeping about her tragic fate, Eggman's grandfather decided to create a special cure to enable her to live a normal life. Noticing how lonely Maria looked when he and the other scientists tested their formulas, Professor Robotnik senior began working on another project at the same time, a project which would be called, half a decade later, 'Project Shadow.'

The first result was a total failure. The subject wouldn't stay calm and was prone to violent outbursts which threatened to destroy the entire space facility. Furthermore, such a big animal wasn't exactly what he would call a 'good friend' for his fragile granddaughter. After all, it would be better if Maria's companion was about her size, not the height of a building. No, surely the lizard-like animal did not fit her. As such, Professor Gerald was obliged to seal the creature which would bear the name of 'Biolizard.'

Not losing hope either for the seemingly impossible-to-create cure or for 'Project Shadow', Maria's grandfather worked like crazy, sleeping rarely and as little as humanly possible. Days after days, nights after nights, he gave his 100%, knowing that each minute he spent without Maria or without eliminating flaws from Shadow's pure mind were lost minutes, maybe his precious granddaughter's last. And finally, after several weeks of hard labor, Professor Gerald was able to present Maria to her first non-human friend: Shadow the Hedgehog.

Unlike what Gerald's colleague thought, Maria and Shadow's friendship started on the rocks. The anthropomorphic hedgehog would rarely speak to the ill teen and the latter, getting tired of constantly being ignored, got more interested in staring at the mass of rock known as planet Earth from 'the stargazing room' (as liked to call it Doug Moar, Gerald's right-hand) or gazing at constellations.

As boring as it was on the ARK, Maria never got tired from staring at the stars. After a long-winded speech from her grandfather about how these little pinpricks were simply mass of hydrogen exploding millions of time, creating a great source of light and energy, and would die by swelling more than a thousand times its original size only to end up exploding, forming a huge cloud of gas which would become later in time, another star, Maria decided she liked those pretty white points marring the dark emptiness of space. Since her grandpa was often busy working and could sadly not teach her what she desired to learn about the stars, the young teen of about twelve went to his private library, took as many books as possible describing those little white dots and came back to 'the stargazing room.' There, in the privacy of silence, she would study the name of constellations and repeat their names over and over by ticking her fingers off to memorize the appellations.

Although, by making a mistake, she unknowingly created the beginning of a close friendship.

"Orion's Belt, Andromeda, Aquarius, Orion's Belt, Andromeda, Aquarius, Orion's Bet, Andro-"

"Orion's Belt."

"Huh?" Maria uttered, turning around as far as she could while sitting on the floor, her crossed legs covered by her dress, color of the Earth seas.

"It's Orion's Belt. Not 'Bet,'" replied the usually silent hedgehog, who was given the task of checking on Maria from the Professor.

"Oh. Thank you then," told the young teen. Then, everything became silent.

After a while, the lack of comforting sounds became unnerving to the Professor's granddaughter, and seeing Shadow going his way, she called out with a hand in the air, "Wait!" The hedgehog heard her command as his eyes flicked over her form briefly, and even if there was nothing forcing him to heed her, he stopped and looked at Maria, his stance asking a silent question. 'What?'

Maria, not actually expecting Shadow to comply with her demand, gulped silently. Now what? Racking her brain for ideas, she decided to go for the most sensible option. 'Well everything's got to start somewhere, right?' Then, she called out in a slightly unsure voice, "Would you like to stay?"

Shadow pondered on the issue. The Professor _did_ ask him to try and get along with Maria, but since both of them were used to solitude and silence, it was quite hard for the duo to form a solid tie. He thought about it for a minute and two, and without giving Maria a verbal answer, he came and sat down next to her, legs and arms crossed and eyes staring at the books scattered all around the teenage girl.

She smiled at him, and Shadow concluded that maybe, just maybe, they could actually get along, no matter how his soul was used to loneliness and hers to joy.

* * *

Back to the present time, Amy realised the room was already occupied by a certain black hedgehog. Seeing how confused he seemed to be the last time she interacted with him, the pink hedgehog chose to make herself known.

"Shadow?"

* * *

Weeeeell, that's all for today folks! This will be a two-shot about SA2 and how Shadow remembered what he truly promised Maria.

Soo, happy New Year everyone and stay tuned for the next part of this story, _next year._  
Hehehhe ~~

'_Melia, signing out._


	2. Chapter 2

Onward to part 2!  
**Disclaimer:** (actually forgot to make one for my other story -.-) I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog which belongs to SEGA, nor any of its games, plots, characters, and quotes. I merely borrow them to create a fiction and satisfy people's desire to see characters more in depth.  
© SEGA

People...REEEEVIEW-VIEW-VIEW-VIEW PLZPLZPLZ, nhahgdahj  
S'il-vous-plait, review! :)

* * *

"Shadow?"

Amy didn't know whether his presence meant a good or a bad thing. After all, they didn't meet on what she'd call the best circumstances of the world, as she mistook him for Sonic in her blind excitement. When she realized he wasn't her blue hero, she let go of the carbon copy of her love interest only to scream out in surprise at seeing Eggman, and who she learned later, Rouge the Bat. Fortunately for her, Tails came to her rescue (and also Sonic's) and fought against Eggman's mobile device while she sneaked away in the G.U.N prison to free Sonic.

Right now, the rose hedgehog was not in a good position. She was totally helpless in helping disarm the Eclipse Cannon, Sonic's rival stood before her, silent as ever, and she was sure she wouldn't be able to hold him off should he ever decide to stop the Eggman-Sonic alliance from saving Earth. This train of dark thoughts going against her optimistic nature, Amy mentally berated herself, 'I really gotta stop whining. Everyone is trying their best to help out, and so must I!'

Taking wary baby steps towards the dark hedgehog, Amy noted that he looked even more thoughtful and withdrawn than anyone else. And he was also giving off this awful vibe of loneliness and resentment. 'Probably about that Maria girl Professor Gerald was talking about,' she guessed. Not wanting the silence to go on any longer, Amy took a breath and called out to him, "Shadow, we need you! Please help us!"

'Please? I don't say that usually, so why…?'

The dark hedgehog uncrossed his arms and replied dully to her, "It's all according to plan. There's no reason for me to help them. Besides, there's no way to save anyone."

'What? No way to save them…'

"There _has _to be!" Amy cried her thought out loud, already forgetting about being devoured by the dark atmosphere hanging around the hedgehog she was speaking to. "I know that people fight over the most trivial things. Some people may be selfish like the professor said…" she continued, her voice gradually fading as she spoke. Amy took another breath and kept going, louder, "But they're basically good. If they try their best and never give up on their wishes. They always have a reason to be happy. That's why you should help them. Saving them is a good thing."

As an afterthought, she added desperately a little sentence which would make the difference, a sentence so similar to the one a young teenage girl friend with Shadow uttered, that it was a wonder how alike they looked at that moment.

"Shadow, I beg of you, please do it for them. Give them a chance"

That's all it took for Shadow to remember.

* * *

"Shadow, I beg of you, please do it for me…for a better future!" said a dying Maria, barely hanging to her life to help her friend escape. She had to hang on a little more! Just a little more, and Shadow would be safe, on Earth. And she hoped he would befriend the humans she longed to meet for so long, just like she befriended him.

"Maria!" the anthropomorphic hedgehog cried out, barely believing she encapsulated him. He hit the thick glass with an unsuspected vigour, wanting to escape that blasted capsule denying him access to his ghostly pale friend. What was she doing? What was she _saying? _What about her, and the Professor, and right-hand Moar, and…?

"For all the people who live on that planet…give them a chance to be happy," 'Like I had,' Maria thought. "Let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I _know_ you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world."

Laying her eyes on her best friend and his flabbergasted expression for the last time, eyes brimming with sadness and unshed tears, Maria barely managed to mutter with a smile a "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog," ignoring his painful yells and the sound of his fist slamming against the wall of his glass prison She pulled onto the lever with all her remaining strength, fully aware that the moment she did so, he would disappear from her sight forever. She thought bitterly that at least, his life will become happier, even if she wasn't there to share that happiness. And as a plus, he wouldn't have to behold her last moment in life. That's all she desired.

Falling to the ground, her legs unable to steady her wounded and ill body, Maria prayed for the last time. 'Please, if someone hears me, please protect Grandpa, everyone else on the ARK and Shadow. Please let him find happiness when he arrives and have someone stay by his side, like he did mine all these years. I regret nothing. Shadow…'

A single tear slipped from her closed eyes, rolling down her cheek, and a small smile painted her face. For Maria Robotnik, there was no more pain nor for her body, nor for her heart. Her last promise and prayer were heard, and would be heeded.

Although Professor Gerald never heard _this_ side of the story…

* * *

"That's what I promised her and I must keep that promise. That's…" A tear fell down; rolling on Shadow's cheek the same way it did Maria's. With his fist tightly clenched and his heart feeling crushed by that horrible image of Maria slowly losing her strength, his memory rushed back, filling his brain with a huge load of information.

Feeling the waves of agonizing pain emanating from the dark hedgehog's body, Amy held out a hand and called softly, so as to not startle him, "Shadow?"

At hearing his name, Shadow snapped out of the daze created by his sudden memory recovery. He looked at Amy seriously and said clearly, "I've got to go now! I have to keep my promise to Maria." He turned around, ready to leave the place and fulfill his promise.

And running past the pink hedgehog, he continued his sentence softly, only for her ears to hear, even though there was nobody else in 'the stargazing room.'

"_And _you."

After he left, Amy's mind was assaulted by a hundred questions at the recent confession. A promise? 'To save the world?' she hoped, her heart feeling feather-light. Back to the subject of the Earth's imminent doom, Amy mentally prayed for her friends' safety. And this time, also for Shadow's.

'Please don't get hurt…'

19 minutes were left until the firing of the Eclipse Cannon.

* * *

Theeeeere you go. Ughh, it's sooo hard to write a thousand words, like 2 pages in Word, and you have to write and writeandwriteandwriteand,… raggghh  
So much work! …-.-  
Anyways, I hope you like this little story. Might do a Ranma/Akane this week. And with the holidays almost coming to an end (wahhh, nooooooo. ) it may take a while, since I write these stories at 18:30. And publish them at 20:30. And I have to eat and wash the dishes during that time. -.-  
A-ny-ways, please drop a REVIEW! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea se! REIEWREVIEWREVIEW!  
It would mean a lot to me, because I want to improve my writing! :))  
Annnnd a lot of thanks for my VERY FIRST REVIEWER EVER, Guest! Ysahawww! Thanks a lot! XDD Wohouuuuuuu. :DDD

'_'Melia, signing out._


End file.
